


Camping by the lake

by orphan_account



Series: South Park New Generation [5]
Category: South Park
Genre: Adventure, Being Lost, Campfires, Camping, F/M, Family Bonding, Family Dynamics, Father-Daughter Relationship, Father-Son Relationship, Fatherhood, Gen, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Mother-Son Relationship, Motherhood, Original Character(s), Rescue, South Park Big Bang, South Park Drabble Bomb, Uncle-Nephew Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-02
Updated: 2018-03-16
Packaged: 2019-03-26 01:08:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13846851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: The Marsh Family are off to a camping trip, and Sam invited Levy to join on his family's trip. But the fun is short-lived when Sam and Levy are lost in the woods. But now more than ever they must rely on their strong childhood friendship to pull through if they hope to be saved.





	1. Chapter 1

**I don't own South Park but the South Park next generation kids belong to me and "All Characters and Events in this fanfic-even those based on real people are Entirely Fictional. by ric122 aka AgostoProductions...**

It was the last day of school and as soon as it hit recess, eight-year-old Sam immediately ran up to his best friend Levy who was shooting hoops.

"Dude, what is it?" Levy asked, dropping the basketball. Sam looked really excited about something.

"Dude, I have the greatest news. My family is going on a camping trip in July!"

Levy blinked. "Why is that good news for me?"

"Dude, they said you could come!"

Levy smiled. "Really? I can come along?"

"Aww, how sweet," Derick crooned, standing nearby.

"Shut-up fatass," Levy snapped.

"Yeah. I had to do a bit of begging but in the end, they said yes." Sam was beaming.

"That's great! I have to ask my parents though. How long will the trip be?"

"A week."

Levy looked worried. "You know how my dad is Sam; he might not want me gone in the woods for a week."

Sam deflated. "Well, ask her anyway. I promise, this is going to be great, a lot better than the one we took when we were six."

Levy sighed. "Surprised you brought that up. You were the one who almost died from an asthma attack up there."

Sam frowned. "This is going to be different. Anyway, ask your parents first thing tonight, okay? We're leaving July 5th."

Derick was glaring now. "Ay! What about me?"

"What about you?" Sam asked.

"I can't come?"

"Well, no. I only asked my parents if Levy could come. Besides, there won't really be extra room for another person."

"Especially for one as chubby as him," Levy said to Sam.

They giggled.

"Fine! I see how it is!" Derick bit. "I don't wanna go on your gay little camping trip in the first place! I have plenty of plans for the summer anyway!" and he marched off.

"So… be sure to ask okay?" Sam said after Derick had gone off.

It was dinnertime at the Broflovski's house. Levy looked over at his parents.

"Mom? Dad?"

"Yes sweetie?" Bebe said.

"Um… Sam's family is going camping in July and- they wanted to know if I could join them."

Bebe and Kyle looked at each other.

"When exactly will they be leaving?" Kyle asked, eating some veggies.

"July 5th."

"For how long?" Kyle said.

"A week."

"A week?" Kyle repeated eyes wide.

"Yeah." Levy looked down now, he had a feeling his father would say no.

"That's a long time to be going on a trip in the woods sweetie," Bebe told him fairly.

"Please Mom and Dad? It's the Marshes, I'll be fine."

"I don't know Levy; I don't like the idea of you going camping for a week."

"But I'll be fine. Please? You allowed Sam to come with us when we went camping a few years ago."

"That was only for two days and he had an asthma attack," Kyle reminded him.

"Yeah but- but- well, it won't happen again." What else could he say to that?

"He had an even worse one back in February," Kyle continued.

"Why does that matter?" Levy had to ask.

"The point is son, we don't think you boys are responsible enough to go camping for a week without something happening," Kyle said for her wife.

"His parents will be there! The whole time! We will be fine," Levy exasperated. "Please, we don't have anything planned for summer anyway."

Kyle and his wife shared a look. "Well, it's not like Wendy and Stan are irresponsible…"

"Bebe, I do not want our son going camping for a week," Kyle snapped.

Levy was growing frustrated.

"C'mon Kyle, you know how kids are. The more you say no, the more they'll want their way," she said quietly.

Kyle glared at his wife before turning to Levy. "Your mother and I will discuss it later."

Levy bit his lip but he knew he had done his part, now he had to do what the hard part was, be patient for an answer. After dinner he went into the living room to play with his little sister, kylie. He could hear his parents talking in the next room, then on the phone with Sam's parents. It was hard not to eavesdrop.

"It a piiizzza," Kylie babbled, holding up a cardboard cutout of one.

"Yeah, yeah," Levy said, ears on his parents.

Levy- Levy, I like jellybeans," Kylie said.

Levy frowned, trying to ignore him. Suddenly Kyle and Bebe walked in. Levy held his breath.

"Your father and I have talked it over, and had called Wendy just to be sure," Bebe began.

Levy was still holding in his breath in anticipation.

"We've decided you can go," Kyle smiled.

"Yes! Yes! Thank-you!" Levy hugged his parents.

"They will be camping at a new camping ground four hours from here called Lake Cherry Wood. It's supposed to be real nice and family-friendly. They have plenty of activities lined up. I think it's best you begin packing next week so you'll be ready, alright Levy?" Bebe explained.

"Okay Mom." Levy could hardly contain his excitement that night. He and Sam had to call each other and talk excitedly about the news for an hour before they had to go to bed.

Levy spent the night at the Marshes the day before they left for the trip so they could pile into the car first thing the next morning. Everyone was looking forward to the trip, everyone except for Sam's older cousin Ben. He complained about it all that night.

"I don't want to go on a stupid trip, especially with those little chodes around!" he yelled.

"It will be fun. You'll get to go on a couple great hikes around the lake. You'll love it," Stan told him. Besides, your mother insist that you come to the trip with us because she's going on a business trip in Las Vegas.

Ben rolled his eyes. It sounded more than lame in his opinion. Sam and Levy could hardly fall asleep that night. They raced each other playing Mario Kart on their Nintendo Switches and talked forever, until Wendy finally came in and told them to go to sleep since they had to wake up early. 5 AM rolled around and everyone trudged tiredly out of bed and got dressed and put their remaining luggage into the car and tiny camper attached to it that they were borrowing from a friend. Ben told his Aunt & Uncle several times that he would spend the whole five days in the camper but they weren't having a word of it. It didn't even have a TV so he would not have been entertained. They were off on the road by six and off to a fun camping trip at Lake Cherry Wood. At eight they stopped for a rest and a quick breakfast at an old diner before going off again. They stopped for a rest each hour for the kids were too restless and had to shake off some of their energy.

"It's early in the morning, you're supposed to be tired," Wendy told them during the last stop.

Finally they saw a sign up ahead indicating that the camping grounds were coming up. Sam, Lily and Levy cheered. Ten minutes later they came up to a large wooden post that read Lake Cherry Wood. They drove through a path with beautiful Colorado pines on the sides and other plants before finally reaching the camp site.

"Look at this; we have this whole area to ourselves!" Stan exclaimed happily when they got out.

"There are other people around aren't there?" Ben asked.

"Yes, across this area of trees. But this whole clearing is ours. And according to the map, we're only a mile from the lake."

"Kids, come on over and help," Wendy called to Sam, Levy and Lily who had begun to throw a football around.

"Awww…" they complained.

"C'mon, my dad doesn't know how to put up a tent so we should help," Sam told Levy.

Ben defiantly opted to stay in the small camper once he found out that he would have to share a tent with his Aunt and Uncle. They finally gave in and agreed. Sam and Levy would have a tent all to themselves. Once everyone was settled they thought of what they should do first.

"Let's go fishing!" Levy cried.

"I wanna go white-water rafting. Please Mom? I've always wanted to"- Sam said, pulling out a pamphlet.

"I'm hungry Wendy," Stan complained.

"I'm bored," Ben added.

"Alright, alright everyone, calm down!" Wendy called. "Now, it's almost 11:30, we should get some lunch before anything."

"Where?" Sam asked.

"There's supposed to be a real nice burger joint in town."

"C'mon you guys, this is a camping trip, we shouldn't eat in 'town.' Let's find our own food," Stan suggested.

"I am not going to be hunting deer or something if that's what you think," Wendy insisted.

"Hey, I didn't even mean to hunt or kill and we can eat fish, berries or something," Stan said in defense.

"I say we eat in town. Then we can walk around the shops, get to know the area," Wendy said.

The kids chimed in with agreement.

"After that can we go river rafting?" Sam asked as they began to walk into town.

"We're doing that in two days Sammy, you can wait till then," Wendy told her son.

"No I can't."

Levy tapped Sam on his shoulder. "We're really going river rafting?"

"You bet dude!"

Levy frowned. "It won't be- on real rapid waves will it?"

"I hope so," Sam said with delight.

"Dude, we can die! Especially if this is our first time!"

"C'mon Levy, live adventurous for once," Sam told him.

"My idea of adventure is a long hike, not drowning."

Sam shook his head. This is just what his best friend needed, adventure. And he was a master at finding it. Levy could be too cautious at times, a five-day camping trip would set him straight. They ate at a small burger shack called Joey's Burgers before walking around the small area.

"Would you guys like a souvenir or something?" Wendy asked the kids as they walked down the street. Stan had been dragged off when he found the local bar.

"We wanna pick something out later, before we leave," Sam & Lily said.

"Me too," Levy agreed.

"Can I just go back to camp?" Ben asked.

"C'mon Ben, we just got here."

"I don't want to spend the day shopping with little chodes," Ben spat.

"Well I don't care, you aren't going to camp," Wendy snapped.

Sam, Lily and Levy ran ahead of Wendy to see what they could find that catered to their interests. They quickly found Georgia's Sweets and hurriedly ran inside to gaze upon all the confectionary.

"Wow, those Rice crispy squares are the size of bricks," Levy pointed out.

"And those cookies are the size of our heads," Sam added.

"Man, I wish we had little shops like this back in South Park. Our town's beginning to look like Denver," Levy complained.

Wendy soon found the kids and rolled her eyes at them. "Didn't take long to find the candy shop huh?"

"Can we get something?" Sam immediately asked.

"Yeah, can we please, Mrs. Marsh?"

"We just had lunch boys."

"Please?" they put on their best pleading faces.

The store owner, Georgia smiled an old, knowing smile. "You can't deny a child from sweets ma'am."

Wendy sighed. "Alright fine, one thing only."

How were they supposed to choose between the giant cookies, brownies, fudge, candy and ice cream?

"I promise we'll come back before we go back home," Wendy told them, reading their minds.

Sam walked out the store with a giant chocolate cookie (and a bottle of milk to go with the cookie) Lily is eating a giant chocolate coated Rice Crispy Treat and Levy, the home-made rainbow sherbet. They sat around the edge of the lake and watched people on speed-boats and Para-sailing.

"Are we gonna do that too Mom?" Sam & Lily asked.

"I don't know honey. If we can find time, maybe."

"What are we going to be doing for the next five days?" Levy asked, licking away at his sorbet (which happened to be the tastiest sorbet he ever had).

"Oh, we have some things lined up. Tomorrow we'll be going on a hike around the lake, then one that's supposed to lead to a waterfall."

"Cool," the kids said.

"The waterfall hike is supposed to be a bit rough and rocky and steep but I think we can handle it right?" Wendy asked them.

Levy smiled. A rough hike to a waterfall was just what he wanted to do. "I can't wait."

"And tomorrow night there's going to be a huge barbeque near the main entrance of the camping grounds where everyone camping will be allowed to come. There's going to be a lot of food and music and activities to do."

"Then after that we're going river-rafting?" Sam reminded her.

"Yes, after that, river-rafting," Wendy rolled her eyes.

"What else?" Levy asked.

"Kayaking, and well, Dad and I have a couple fun things planned out for each of you," Wendy looked around at Sam, Lily, Levy, and Ben.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"Oh, we found something fun for each one of you. One of us are going to take each of you out on something fun, without the others."

"Even me?" Levy asked.

"Yes, we found an activity just for you Levy," Wendy smiled.

Levy and Sam looked at each other, excited. They both wanted to know what their special activities were. Levy finished the rest of his ice cream cone as he looked on. He was sure going to have a fun time here, that was for sure. He loved spending time with Sam's family, they were the best. Sometimes he wished his parents were as out-going as they were. Knowing it was best not to think about it, he went back to camp with them and played more football. This was going to be the best summer ever.m

**( To Be Continued )**


	2. Chapter 2

That night the Marshes and Levy were gathered around a roaring fire making s'mores and talking under the stars. Owls hooted in the distance and crickets chirped. Levy could not remember such a peaceful end to the day- that was until Sam was unable to breathe minutes before dinner. He was fine after a couple puffs of his inhaler but Levy was still worriedly glancing at him now and again.

"Okay, it's my turn," Stan was saying to everyone. "What is everyone's biggest fear?"

"You have to answer first, remember Dad?" Sam told him.

"Alright, alright. My fear is snakes & getting trapped in an closet with snakes and not being able to escape," Stan said seriously.

The others gave him blank looks.

"Woah Really?" Sam finally asked.

"Well yeah. You know what I'm talking about Sam; people die all the time being eaten by snakes. Something goes wrong, a deadly snake bites you and soon you're poisoned to death!"

Wendy began to giggle but tried to restrain herself.

"Oh, oh, that's funny Wendy? Well what's your biggest fear?" Stan crossed his arms.

Wendy wiped the smile from her face. "Well, my biggest fear is- that the next thing that happens to you boys"- she looked at Sam and Levy. "-you won't come back home."

They gave her serious and worried looks.

"I mean, you've gotten into so much trouble over the years. Call it silly or whatever but, I'm afraid you won't make it back to us the next thing something happens..."

It wasn't like they ever intentionally looked for trouble, but Sam decided not to look at his mother anyway. He never liked it when she looked upset. Stan cleared his throat.

"I don't have any fears," Ben spoke up. "So I don't have anything to say."

"Oh come on Ben, everyone has fears!" Stan said.

"Well I'm not saying mine," he said stubbornly.

"Fine, what about you boys?"

Sam, Lily & Levy shared a look. Sam bit his lip. "Well, everyone knows what I'm afraid of. Dying, hospitals, and snakes-and things associated with all three."

"Well, I'm a afraid that I'll end up kissing Derick. If he blackmails me.

"I never really thought of my fears," Levy said honestly as he made up a s'more. "But I guess I'll have to go with dying too. I mean, it could happen any way. It's kinda scary to think about."

They shared more questions and answers- which was fun for all, even Ben. They learned a lot of new things about one another they never heard of before. Which was of course what the kids spent the rest of the night talking about.

"kids, kids, quiet down soon. It's almost 10:30, time to sleep," Wendy said, poking her head in the tent.

"Sorry Mom/Mrs. Marsh," the kids said together with smiles.

She looked at them before kneeling next to them. She caressed Sam's face a second before saying, "Boys, I want you to promise me something."

"What?"

"You won't go looking for your own adventures without us this time, alright? I know there is a lot to see and do and explore here but, for once, don't go wondering off okay?"

"We won't," they rolled their eyes. All their moms told them this every week practically.

"I mean it you two, do not wonder off." She kissed them both on the cheek before stepping out.

They shared a look before talking again.

"Dude, I cannot believe you still play with your old stuffed doll juju," Levy chuckled.

"Hey, at least I didn't pee my pants because I was too excited to recite my oral book report in second grade," Sam pushed him.

"At least I get better grades," Levy challenged.

"At least I'm better in sports!"

"At least I wasn't the last in class to learn how to tell time!"

"At least I didn't turn my ass all red after sitting in a tub of paint in kindergarten!" Sam retorted.

"At least I'm not afraid of shots!"

"At least I'm not afraid of common house flies!"

"At least I've never thrown up on every single person I've ever known!"

"At least I don't have an afro," Sam said smugly.

Levy opened his mouth but closed it. "Damn, you won."

Sam laughed. It was a while before they finally fell asleep. There was some rustling outside the tent, plus it was bright inside. Sam blinked his eyes tiredly- it was already morning. Rubbing his eyes he saw something thin and green on top his sleeping bag. He rubbed his eyes again to focus on the thing. It had a long thin body, beady eyes, and a forked tongue.

"AAAAHHHHHH!" he screamed and tripped over his sleeping bag and ran out the tent.

"Sammy, what is it?" Wendy asked, getting breakfast items on.

"Ahhhhh! Snake! Snake! Snake!"

"Where's a snake?"

"In the tent!" he hid behind his mother's legs and pointed ahead of him.

Levy got out of the tent now. "Dude, why are you screaming?"

Soon there was laughter. Sam spun his head around and saw Ben slapping his hands on his knees.

"Hahahaha! I got you Chode! I got you good!"

Wendy pulled out the toy snake from the tent. "You did this Ben?"

He was not the only one laughing, Stan was chuckling as well.

"It was my idea actually."

"You?" Wendy gasped.

"I wanted to play a little joke. Of course Ben couldn't say no to it. Funny huh?"

Sam stood there open-mouthed at his father.

"Oh c'mon you guys, everyone plays pranks on each other during camping."

"No parent with a right mind would find it funny to scare their child half to death!" Wendy snapped, throwing the snake angrily to the ground.

"Awww, it was just a joke."

"I cannot believe you Stanley!"

"Why not?" he shot.

"Sammy is terrified of snakes!"

The two argued for five minutes before they got breakfast on. Bacon and eggs made in a skillet over the fire and toast. Not long after everyone began to get ready for the two hikes they were taking that day. Levy walked out of the camper wearing shorts and a t-shirt. He breathed in the warm mountain air. It was summer, it felt great. Sam came out minutes later wearing shorts and a t-shirt as well, and had opted to take off his hat. Levy's hat was more of a part of him than anyone's and Sam was right- at least he didn't have to worry about an afro. Wendy sprayed the boys with insect repellant before she went down a list to make sure they had everything they needed.

"You're carrying the water bottles right, Stan?"

He nodded and patted his backpack. "And I've got the map and umbrellas in case it starts to rain in here too."

"Alright, remember everyone; we can't eat anything on the hike, alright? We'll have lunch after. Dad has binoculars in his backpack in case you want to use them, and don't forget to take your sunglasses. I've got the camera if any of you want to take pictures. And Sam, I'm going to hold onto your inhaler, you might loose it," Wendy added.

Sam rolled his eyes.

"I think we're set. Let's go!"

Since the first hike was a short one and only a mile away, they walked there. Ben was of course not pleased saying how they would be taking three hikes today instead of two. The first hike- the Lake Cherry Wood Trail, was fairly safe and uneventful. It was pretty much a circle around the lake with not a whole lot to look at. But Sam did like watching the people on the speedboats in the lake, wishing he could do that as well. The Para-sailing looked really fun. After resting and lunch, they got in the car and drove for fifteen minutes to where the next hike was located.

"This is two miles long so are we all ready?" Stan asked at the sign post that read Trail to Whitestone Falls.

"Yes!" Levy smiled, putting on his shades.

"Boys, stick with us okay? I don't want you falling off a steep hill on the pathway or something," Wendy warned.

"Awww… can't we just be ahead of you a little?" Sam showed her a space between his first finger and thumb.

"No Sammy. I know how you guys are, the answer is no," she said sternly.

The boys quickly found walking sticks, minutes into the hike. Whenever the adults weren't looking they raced up a few paces. They soon found out this was going to be a fun and rough walk. They had already tripped twice and there weren't any barriers on the sides where the trees really sloped down. Whenever Ben saw Sam and Levy peek over the edge his fingers twitched with the yearning of wanting to push them down, but then he'd really get it. Twenty minutes up Sam had to stop due to his breathing.

"Damn dude, you never have attacks back-to-back," Levy told him as he took a couple puffs.

Sam shrugged as he handed back his inhaler to his mom.

"He usually has his worst symptoms in the summer and fall Levy," Wendy explained. "With all the pollen and allergens and exposure to plants and warm air. He'll be fine, right Sam?"

He drew in a steady breath and nodded, getting to his feet. He patted Levy on the back.

"Thanks for worrying though dude."

"Dude, ever since February"-

"It won't happen again, promise. C'mon, I think I see a great view ahead!"

Levy hated when Sam pretended he didn't have breathing problems but hurried to follow behind him. He was right, they had reached a patch of earth where a few large rocks lay and there was the rushing river a hundred feet below.

"Boys, be careful," Wendy said nervously.

Stan had taken out his video camera now.

"Don't tell me you actually brought that stupid thing!" Wendy cried.

"You never know what you might find Wendy!" he pointed the camera to himself. "Marsh family camping trip. On a hike to Whitestone Falls now. Almost a half hour in. You can hear the river behind me. There's Ben on the pathway rolling his eyes. Say 'hi' Benny!"

"Uncle Stan!"

"There are Sam and Levy on a rock near the edge of the cliff. Pretty close to the edge actually. Wave to the camera boys!"

"Dad, cut it out!" Sam called, turning around.

"And there's Wendy in front of me, wave honey!"

Wendy glared at her husband, pushing the camera out of her face before walking near the boys. "Okay, come down you two. We can take a picture but then we have to leave."

After a few shots of the amazing scenery and one of both boys smiling on the rock, they continued their trail. The boys looked left and right as they walked. Sam nudged Levy suddenly.

"Ever wonder what's lying in all those trees up there?" he pointed to the right where the trees sloped higher and higher and it was hard to see what was between them.

"Yeah. Every time I see pictures of forests and mountains, I wonder what's really living in them…"

They paused for a minute to gaze up.

"What if a witch or something lives up there? And every night, as the sun goes down, she feeds off of any stranded people?" Levy suggested.

"Don't be stupid dude; a witch wouldn't live in a mountain. It has to be some unknown animal or monster. C'mon, they discover knew species all the time. Some unknown creature lives up there, waiting to be discovered. And maybe, it never will," Sam said.

They continued to look at the dark trees, not saying anything. It was fun to imagine what could be lurking up there. Suddenly they heard a snap of a twig and something grabbed their shoulders.

"Ahhhhhh!" they cried and jumped in the air.

"Ben!" Sam swore as he saw his sister laughing behind them.

"What's going on?" Wendy asked.

"Mom, cousin Ben scared us!"

"Ben," Wendy said angrily. "C'mon kids, we shouldn't be messing around up here. It's only a matter of time before your father trips with his video camera…" it almost sounded as if she wanted that to happen.

Nothing more eventful happened the rest of the hike up. It did begin to rain lightly but only for five minutes. There was soon a rushing, roaring sound ahead.

"I hear it! I hear the waterfall!" Levy called and hurried up the way, Sam not too far behind. They reached a signpost that read Whitestone Falls and to the left, a beautiful descending waterfall, gushing water over huge rocks. Wendy reminded the kids to be careful again when she caught up.

"Whoa dude…" Sam gasped, looking down.

"Now this is what I call cool," Levy displayed happily.

The boys continued to lean over a huge boulder as they watched the water cascade down and felt it spray on their faces.

"You boys better be careful," warned what looked to be a park ranger.

"We know," they said in union.

Sam leaned a little too far that his sunglasses slipped from his face and almost fell down to the bottom. That's when Wendy knew they had to get down- after she took a picture of the two there. Several more pictures of everyone and the waterfall were shot, and Stan had to get some good footage for his 'Marsh Camping Trip 2034' video; they rested for a while, took a drink of water before heading back down, which was even more dangerous than going up. Everyone tripped a good number of times, Sam cut his knee, Lily had a black eye from falling on some rocks and Levy bruised his elbow going down. Stan also dropped his camera twice. They finally reached camp again and were all more than thankful to rest their aching feet for a while.

At 6 PM they drove over to the gathering center at the camp site and had the weekly barbeque. Sam, Lily and Levy, being smaller than everyone else were ready to call it a night after they ate. They just hung back and talked while everyone else met new people and played games. By 9:30, the kids were out like a light.

Wendy kissed Stan after they checked on the sleeping children.

"Ahhh, nothing is more beautiful than rambunctious kids, asleep," she told him lovingly.

"You can say that again. The way they just ran off that one rock they were on by the waterfall- damn near gave me a heart attack," Stan exasperated. "I don't think Bebe and Kyle will be too happy if I have their son's death on video."

Wendy rolled her eyes. After one last look, the parents went to their own tent and also called it a night. Sam was nearly bouncing off the walls- or trees that was, the next morning. They were finally going to go river-rafting, something he wanted to do since he was five. But they weren't going right away- Stan was going to take Ben out on his special trip, an amazing photographing experience of some of the plants and scenery around. That meant Sam had to wait until after lunch for the rafting. The boys were able to entertain themselves until then, Levy not in any particular hurry in the first place.

"If you don't want to do it you don't have to," Wendy had reminded him.

"No, I want to," Levy said earnestly. He almost felt like he had no choice since both Wendy and Stan wanted to try it out as well and no one would be available to look after him. Ben seemed unsure too but he knew he was only going so he didn't have to watch him, which was only a good thing. They were only going for a half-day trip and were going on a class ll experience run, which made Sam upset. He wanted to experience high waves and big drops that would lift him out his seat but his parents told him he wasn't ready yet. Levy was secretly thankful they weren't going on the huge waves he thought they were.

After what felt like to Sam a two-hour lesson on all the safety tips from the instructor who would be taking them, they were finally able to get into the raft.

"Hold up there son or you might float on without us," Stan told him as he climbed into the raft and immediately took hold of a paddle.

"Dude, I never knew you wanted to do this thing so badly," Levy told his best friend as he took a seat next to him.

"It's just the thought that I've lived in Colorado my whole life and never got to go river rafting before. You see people do it all the time on TV or movies and stuff. I always thought it looked really fun, like one huge water slide," Sam beamed.

"If you say so," Levy said as he buckled a helmet over his red afro.

"Alright, is everyone ready?" asked the instructor, Mark.

"Yes!" chimed the Marshes and Levy.

"Then let's get rafting!"

It wasn't as high and adrenalin-filled as Sam hoped but he still had a wonderful time. He did enjoy the dips, however small they were, and loved the water splashing everywhere. Levy had a good time too. The thought that they might go on life-threatening rapids had thankfully been extinguished. They had a nice dinner before calling it a day. Sam and Levy talked excitedly about the rafting and wondering what their surprise trips tomorrow would consist of. Levy had a feeling Sam's parents picked out something to do with animals for him, being the animal lover he was, but he had no idea what they could have found for him. But he was sure to be thankful for it, whatever it may be. Soon enough the boys fell asleep, thoughts on what the next day might bring.I

**( To Be Continued )**


	3. Chapter 3

The next day did not consist of any family activities. It was Sam and Levy's special day and so they would not be spending much time together. Since Stan had taken Cousin Ben out for his activity, Wendy would be taking Sam along for his. Stan already had something to eat before lunch so Levy opted to go with Wendy as well. Wendy took the kids out for lunch before Levy went back to camp to hang with Stan and Sam's Cousin Ben. Well, not really Ben… Sam had dressed in a new pair of shorts, t-shirt and went hatless again, excited about what he was going to be doing today with his mother. He loved doing things with his dad too, but Stan being Stan… there were only so many times one could act drunk towards their child before he called it quits. At least things with Wendy could be fun from beginning to end.

"So where are we going?" Sam asked Wendy as he placed a baseball cap on his head.

"I'm taking you on the Rocky Mountain Wildlife Tour," Wendy pulled out a pamphlet to show him.

Sam took it and glanced it over. He then turned to Levy, eyes wide with excitement and a toothy smile on his face.

Levy rolled his eyes in amusement. His best friend was so predictable.

"Have fun son," Stan told him, holding up a bottle of beer in farewell. He nudged Levy. "We'll have fun here won't we Levy?"

"Er- yeah." Levy was just going to play with his DS for the time being and sit by the lake and watch everyone on it.

Wendy drove for around thirty minutes until they finally reached a small shack with a sign reading WILDLIFE TOURS on it. Sam held onto the binoculars around his neck in anticipation. As much as he loved animals, it was always best to see them in their natural environment, untouched by humans. The tour guide talked a few things over, told everyone the rules and such before beginning the tour. It was much like a hike except there was a greater chance to see something, especially since they had reluctantly taken along Stan's video camera. They had parked the car alongside a road and looked out to the grass ahead. They waited for awhile before deciding to drive up to see if they could spot anything there. Ten minutes into sitting Wendy tapped Sam's shoulder.

"Huh?"

She pointed ahead of her. "Look Sammy, there are a few deer ahead…"

He squinted into the distance before putting the binoculars over his eyes for a better view. "Wow!"

"Shhh. See them?"

"Yeah. Looks like they're eating. How cool…"

It wasn't the only thing they saw either; there were many bird sightings, elk, chipmunks and squirrels. But the coolest thing yet was what Sam saw at the end of the tour.

"Mom! Mom look!" he pointed the video camera in his hands ahead of him and pointed a finger. "It's a moose!"

"A moose?"

"Yeah- here"- he handed her the camera.

"Hey, you're right. Oh my goodness, that is so cool."

"I know. I've never seen a moose before. Look at him, he's huge!"

"You could easily fit into one of his antlers and ride around in it," Wendy stated.

All too soon the tour had to end. Sam of course wished it could last longer but Levy still had to have a turn with Wendy as well.

"Did you have fun?" Wendy asked her son as they walked back to their car.

"Yeah, it was the best thing so far. There was a condor in the sky, Mom! That was sweet," Sam beamed.

"I was hoping you'd still have a good time even if we didn't see much."

Sam looked up at her. "I'm not cousin Ben; I still like hanging out with you and Dad."

Wendy laughed and ruffled her son's & daughter's hair. "Well then I guess I have four more years to enjoy the both of you before we get tired of one another."

"Guess so. Thanks Mom."

Sometimes Wendy wished her nephew was as polite as her son & daughter but she didn't dwell on it. Sam & Lily wasted no time telling Levy and their dad what he saw on their tour. "We have video footage which is cool. And some pictures to develop. But guess what we saw? A moose!"

"A moose? How cool," Levy smiled.

"He was huge. He was just standing there eating. There were a few birds on his antlers. It was awesome."

At 3:30 PM Wendy took Levy out on his special trip.

"What is it?" Levy had to ask.

"It's a small science center, not too far away."

"Science center?"

"You'll be able to learn a lot of different things about the history of the woods, the wildlife, the earth and climate of the area…" Wendy explained.

This time Levy turned his head around to beam at Sam. Sam shook his head in amusement; his best friend was so predictable. It was a little more than twenty minutes away and Levy couldn't wait to get his brain into some new info. Unlike his friends, he liked new information during vacation. It would be odd though, spending more than an hour just with Sam's mom. He never did that before. Sure their families were close but, this was going to be different.

"Here we are," Wendy said finally, parking at a long building with a sign reading KEATON SCIENCE CENTER. They stepped inside. They were going to the two-hour-long fast tour of the center, which was timed perfectly because they could get back to camp in time for dinner. They walked into a dark room where an employee gave a twenty-minute lesson on the history of the surrounding area.

Levy wished he had brought along a notebook or something, he didn't want to forget any information. The man showed the room of fifteen or so people slides of what the woods and land looked like one hundred years ago before the lesson ended. Up next was an interactive part of the museum, especially designed for children. Levy loved looking at different examples of the earth and rock and plants that had been collected over the years. He was even able to be a part of two experiments one of the workers was demonstrating to the other guests. All the while Wendy smiled at him and took pictures. He looked at her while they were walking down a hall looking at all the displays there. He couldn't believe how easy it was to hang with one of his best friend's parents. He found that he was not missing home at all.

"Are you enjoying yourself so far Levy?" Wendy asked him.

"Oh yeah, this is great. I didn't really think you'd, well, find something that catered to my interests…"

"Well, we all know you love to learn. This was the most information-packed thing I could find."

"No, it's perfect, thanks."

Levy suddenly had an urge to ask her something about Sam. He wanted to know something about his best friend that he would never dare tell him in person, and who better to ask than his mother? But he quickly knew that wouldn't be right, Sam would never forgive him. He just decided to enjoy what little time they had left at the small museum. Before they left Wendy asked if he wanted anything from the gift shop. He quickly found a book about the town Keaton and the Cherry Wood area. She bought if for him and they headed back to the others.

"So, did you have fun with my mom?" Sam asked as the boys lounged around in the camper while Sam's parents got dinner on.

"Actually, yeah. She's a pretty easy person to talk to."

"Yeah." Sam then frowned. "She didn't tell you anything about me did she?"

"Whoa, what do you mean?"

"Every parent does that. If someone is with their friend's parents, even for ten minutes, the parents always tell that person something embarrassing about their kid."

"She didn't say anything, really. Except…"

"What?"

"Well, it's nothing big. Just a few things when you were little…"

"Like…?" Sam looked peeved.

"It was nothing. Just- how your cousin Ben almost broke your arm when you were two, how you've always had a weak stomach, then your take on some of the things we saw at the center… little things like that."

"Why?"

"Dude, I didn't ask her to. It was just a quiet ride from the science center, she wanted to strike up conversation," Levy said in defense, which was the truth.

Sam looked at him suspiciously then sighed. "Guess it doesn't matter much now, nothing is more embarrassing than all the things we found out about each other a couple nights ago."

Levy smiled in relief. Dinner was soon ready. It was hotdogs over a fire but it was great nonetheless. Nothing said camp more than hotdogs anyway. After they roasted marshmallows before they did something that really peaked their interests- tell ghost stories.

"…. And after that, the little girl was never seen again," Sam said in a hushed voice.

His family and Levy clapped. Ben rolled his eyes. "That wasn't scary."

"It was so!" he argued back.

"Kids, c'mon, it's not about how scary a story is," Wendy tried to reason.

"Yes it is!" Sam, Lily, Ben, and Stan chimed in.

"Why tell a story if you can't scare someone with it?" Stan asked.

"I have one!" Levy raised a hand. "Alright, years and years ago, two brothers were walking down the quiet dirt pathway just outside of town called Logan Road. The friends' names were Zander and Mick. They knew they weren't supposed to be down that road after the attack of little Anna Goodman last year."

"I know where this is going," Ben said, crossing his arms.

"You do not!" Levy bit back. "Anyway, Zander and Mick had to go down Logan Road for they had not seen their friend Zander for a couple days. Nobody knew where he was, his parents had been searching all day. Everyone warned them not to go down Logan Road for months, and they had been good boys and listened. That's why they couldn't tell their parents where they were going that night. See, Zander was a weird kid and enjoyed going out at night. He liked finding trouble and doing things he wasn't supposed to, and what better time to do it than at night, when all was dark and no one could see? Plus, ever since little Anna had died on the road months ago, he was eager to see what it was all about. So the brothers stood just outside the entrance to the road, with its tall dark trees on either side, black as ink. They took a deep breath before heading in. nothing was said as they walked down the road. Just then, they heard a twig snap."

Sam forked another marshmallow over the fire as he listened to the tale.

"'Did you hear that?' Mick asked his brother. 'Yeah, maybe we shouldn't be here,' Zander answered. 'No, we have to find Tom. You know he wanted to explore this place for months now. Maybe he finally did it.' So reluctantly, they continued to walk. Up ahead they saw a figure standing. He did not move. They approached it cautiously. 'Hello?' Zander asked. The figure turned- it was Mick! 'Mick, thank goodness we found you. You're parents have been worried,' Zander told him. Mick did not seem to hear him. 'Quiet night out,' Zander spoke. The brothers shared a look. 'Where have you been all this time?" Zander asked. Mick smiled oddly. 'Oh, around.' 'Look, we can't waste anymore time here, we have to get back before everyone knows we're gone,' Zander said. 'Oh, I don't think you're going to be going anywhere tonight,' Mick told them. 'You see, I met someone along this road not too long ago. He needs me. He is neither human nor monster. But he needs me.'"

Sam listened intently.

"'You see Mick and Zander, I ran into the wrong person not long ago. But in so many ways, he is the right person. He will be able to give me what I have always wanted. This town.' 'Why do you want the town?' Zander asked. 'Because, you know me boys. I have always wanted to control something. People. And now I can. All that he asked was that I give him something in return.' 'What's that?' Mick asked wearily." Levy paused before grabbing Sam's shoulder. "'You!'"

"Ahh!" he jumped.

Everyone laughed.

Levy chuckled before wrapping up. "The beast that lived near that road would be very pleased with his young boy victims. Mick gladly disposed of their bodies to him before he was granted permission to be controller of the town. He walked down Logan Road, hands behind his back. 'Quiet night tonight, quiet night indeed….'"

"Wow, that was pretty good," Sam noted, mouth full of more marshmallows.

"That was such a baby story," Ben commented.

"Why must everything you say be negative?" Wendy snapped.

"Well it was! I wasn't scared."

Wendy sighed. "Alright, we have time for one more before we get to bed. Who wants to go?"

Stan grinned. "I do!"

"Alright, go."

Stan positioned himself in front of the dying fire. "This one is about this very lake. Now some people don't know if it's true or not, but there are many witnesses to it. Only, they are in no state to give details."

This got the kids excited so they huddled together to listen.

"Twenty years ago, on July 8th, three campers settled to stay the night. Now they had been lost and wandering the woods for days, with no sign of anyone else. They didn't know at the time that no one was allowed to stay here; this area was protected back then. But they had other troubles to worry about. One of the campers was allergic to the pollen in the air and had broken out into hives and needed medical treatment, but, not knowing where they were, his friends couldn't help him. So they finally took shelter under a huge tree that night during a rainstorm. It was only then that they noticed curious markings on the tree. It was covered in X's and roughly caved triangles. But they simply thought it was animal claw marks and thought nothing of it, so they slept there without complaint. But the peace was short-lived however," Stan said, staring at the boys.

They looked at each other before looking at him again.

"They heard a scream coming nearby. It came from the cave that was around fifteen feet from the tree they were sleeping under. Of course they couldn't just ignore the sound of someone screaming, so one of the three campers volunteered to take a look. He went into the cave, and never came out. The second friend did not know what to do- one of his friends was having allergic reactions to the area and the other had not come out of a cave where they heard screaming! So, he made a painful decision and left his friend under the tree to take a look. He stepped inside. It was dark and musky like anyone would expect a cave to be. He heard screaming. He showed his flashlight ahead of him as he walked. Just then- he saw a most dreadful sight- the body of his friend, and another's, decapitated."

Sam and Levy drew in nervous breaths.

"He didn't have long to worry over this before a great tall shadow loomed over him and he became the same state as they were in. The next day, police had come to investigate the site, where family and friends thought the campers might be. They came one day too late. Under the tree was the third camper, dead. He had died because of his severe allergies to the area and had not received medical help in time. To this day no one knows what killed the other two campers and the person who was already dead inside. There were no traces of blood, or of struggle inside the cave. They just found three, mutated bodies and concluded a bear had attacked them. And now, every July 8th, people still claim to hear screaming in the woods and in the cave and still see four people, lost and confused, trying to understand just how they had died," Stan concluded.

Nobody said anything for a minute. Sam finally had to ask, "Is that really true?"

"Of course it is," Stan told him.

"No way," Levy said.

"It's true! It happened right there at Boulder Cave. It's around a mile or so from this camp site. It's on the map!"

Sam raised a brow and turned to his mother. "Mom, is Dad lying again?"

"He is," Wendy said sourly.

"I am not Wendy and you know it. Remember what the park ranger told us when we booked this trip? I asked about the history of the place and he told me three campers were stranded here fifty years ago, two of them were killed mysteriously in Boulder Cave."

Everyone looked at Wendy again. She sighed. "Alright, fine, that may have happened but"-

"So it is true?" Sam gasped.

"It's just a silly ghost story to tell campers here. It's not true Sammy."

"But if the ranger told you guys and if it's on the map…"

"It is not on the map," Wendy snapped.

"Oh yeah?" Stan pulled out the map of the campsite from his pocket. "Here- right here, Boulder Cave." He pointed it out to the boys.

"Wow," they gasped.

Even Ben seemed interested in the tale. "That's a story," he told them.

"A true story Ben," Stan said, smiling.

"Can we go?" Sam asked, getting to his feet.

"What?" Wendy said, surprised.

"Go see if we spot the ghosts? I mean, that's why Dad told the story isn't it? And why you booked it this week. If it happened July 8th and that's today… well we can see them. That's our last surprise activity for today isn't it?" Sam asked, excited.

"What? No, of course not! Right Stan?" Wendy eyed her husband.

"Sorry Sam, it's not."

"Aw-awww… but, it has to be…"

"Naw. I just told it because we were telling scary stories. It is a true story," he eyed his wife now. "But we aren't going to be doing any ghost hunting tonight."

"Why not?" Sam whined.

"It's late boys; it's already 10:30. We aren't going to go wandering through the woods for a mile to sit by Boulder Cave and look for ghosts," Stan told them.

"Hey Dad, is it only tonight the ghosts come out or not?"

"No, you can see them any old day- or night that is. But you have a higher chance to see them tonight."

"I wonder if we can hear the screaming since the cave isn't too far from here," Levy said thoughtfully.

"Well we'll just have to see won't we?" Stan said wisely, getting to his feet.

Wendy crossed her arms at him. "You better not have plans to wake the kids up at one in the morning, making scary noises and screams."

"I am not Wendy!"

"Good. Come on boys, get into your pj's and brush your teeth. It's time for bed."

"Awwww..." Sam whined again. "I wanna see the ghosts."

"If you really think we are going to sit in the middle of the woods waiting for spirits to show up…"

"Your mother's right Sam, it's time for bed."

Sam cursed angrily but got ready for bed. Minutes later Levy got himself into his sleeping bag in the boys' tent. Stan was looking at the map.

"You really think your dad was telling the truth?" Levy asked him.

"Yeah. My mom even agreed with him, and she never agrees with him. It's true."

"I may not be as adventurous as you dude but even I would like to see a ghost," Levy told Sam, sitting up with his arms around his knees.

"I know. It's one of those things everyone has to experience sometime in their life. And now we won't be able to, we leave tomorrow," Sam sighed sadly.

"Already? Damnit… I'm having such a great time here," Levy frowned.

"Me too. I love going on vacations and trips to places," Sam sank into his pillow.

"There's nothing to do in South Park that we can't do any other day after school."

"I know. Man, I hope my parents have something else planned. I wanna go to California again where mostly all my mom's family lives. It's so fun there," Sam said, thinking.

"We have to think of something to do dude. Even if it's just a trip to the zoo, a Rockies game, or water park or something. I don't want to be stuck at home for the next month and a half," Levy told him seriously.

"Yeah. Me either."

A minute later Wendy came in to kiss the boys good-night before she closed up their tent and turned off the lamp inside. Sam looked up at the roof of the tent, arms behind his head before turning on his side.

"Psst, Levy."

"What?"

"I was thinking of something."

"Yeah?"

"We should try and find Boulder Cave."

"What? When?"

Sam got a dark look in his eyes. "Tonight."

"Tonight? Dude, we can't, your parents said no."

"C'mon, think of it. We never get to go anywhere; this may be the last chance we get to have a real spooky experience until who-knows-when."

"Dude, I am not going against what your parents say okay? It's stupid," Levy noted.

"Come on Levy, look at the map. It's not that far."

"We'll be wasting our time Sam."

"Why?"

"Well, because we will!"

"The story is true, both my parents said so. And it's right here on the map!"

"And just how the hell will we be able to get there?" Levy said angrily.

"We'll just- sneak out."

Levy's eyes went wide. "No, no no no. I am not sneaking out in the middle of the night to get lost trying to find a stupid cave."

"We won't get lost, we have a map!"

"What if your parents find us sneaking out?"

"I know my parents dude; we just have to wait until 1 AM or so. That's when they're usually both sound asleep. Look, we'll just wait around the cave area for like, a half hour. If we don't see or hear anything, we'll head back. Nobody will know."

Levy could not believe Sam sometimes. He really thought this was a good idea? He swore that half the reasons he ever got in trouble was because of Derick, the other half Sam.

"Sam, that cave is in the middle of the forest. How the hell will we be able to find it?"

"I have a good sense of direction. We'll be fine," he said simply.

Levy bit his lip, not knowing what to do. He was never one to disobey something an adult said without really thinking it trough. He had a guilty conscious. Sam's mom clearly told them days ago to not wander off; he couldn't go back on that. But on the other hand, he did want one last dose of adventure, one last adrenaline rush before they went back home tomorrow. They had a map; this forest wasn't that big was it? He sighed and looked at Sam's dark blue eyes.

"Fine, we'll go."

Sam smiled.

"But we will get there fast, stay for thirty minutes then head back. If anyone notices anything the full responsibility is all on you, got it?"

"Got it."

So at 1 AM, both boys got into their shoes and threw their jackets on. Sam packed his backpack with a couple blankets, the map, a couple flashlights, a couple water bottles, and his inhaler. They wouldn't be gone long. They poked their heads out the tent and heard the sounds of Wendy, Lily and Stan asleep feet away. Sam put a finger to his lips, nodded and tiptoed off the camp site, Levy behind him. Sam pulled out the map when they were out of earshot from everyone and shown the flashlight on it.

"Okay, according to this, we have to keep walking north."

Levy held out a compass. "Okay, yeah, this is north. Hurry up; I don't want to be caught."

They walked for ten minutes before Sam consulted the map again. "Hm… there doesn't seem to be any hills drawn on the map but we're at one now."

"Don't tell me we're already lost dumbass!"

"We aren't! God, I was only saying… right, we go this way"- Sam pointed left.

"Sure?"

"Who has the map?"

Levy grumbled. "You better not have your dad's horrible map skills…"

"I don't."

Levy looked up at the dark sky that poked between all the trees. "Looks like it might rain."

Sam shivered. "It's fine. If it starts raining we'll head back."

For some reason Levy doubted this but continued to walk behind the black-haired boy. Levy didn't know why he never asked Sam the directions again; he just trusted he knew where he was going. Levy finally sighed as he rested against a tree.

"Dude, it feels like we've been walking way more than a mile."

Sam's eyes suddenly lit up and he pointed ahead of him. "There! Ahead, I think I see some rocks or something… look, it's a cave!"

Levy's head popped up again. "It is?"

Sam climbed up a rocky hill with difficulty. "It is!" he called down to his friend. Levy quickly caught up behind him. "See? I told you we'd find it."

"I guess you're right. It's Boulder Cave, it has to be."

"Ready?"

Levy nodded. The boys took out their blankets and sat near a log, hoping for a truly spooky experience. The air grew only colder as they waited and the wind really began to kick up. Tears welled in the boys' eyes as the wind whipped at their faces. Stan kept his blanket over his nose and mouth so he'd hopefully not begin having difficulties breathing. Levy could feel himself nodding in and out of sleep.

"Sam, how long has it been?"

"I dunno."

"Where's your watch?"

"I thought you had it."

"What? You do!"

"Shit… well, well I guess we should head back. It's"- just then thunder rolled above them. And that's when it began to rain.

"Great, just great, real fun this is," Levy bit.

Sam put their blankets in his backpack again so they would stay dry. He got to his feet. "Guess we should head back."

"You think?"

"Hey, you wanted to come too Levy, it's not my fault," Sam spat.

Levy was too tired to argue.

"Which was is east?"

Levy took out the compass again and shown a flashlight on it. He moved it around but the needle did not budge. "What the-?"

"What is it?"

"The needle- it won't move."

"Huh?"

"Look, it's not moving. I can't tell which way we need to go."

"Has- has it been that way the entire time?"

"Well I don't think so, I don't know. You kept saying go 'north' and well, we went north."

Sam cursed. "Fucking Damnit! We've been going the wrong way all this time? That stupid thing hasn't even been working? Then this cave can't be Boulder Cave! Look, that weird tree isn't even around!"

Levy shook the compass but it didn't do anything. He gave up and put it in his pocket angrily. "Great, now we're lost! Lost in the middle of the woods, in the middle of the night and it's raining!"

"Well we have to get back to camp before my parents find out we're gone."

"Sam, they probably already know we're gone! And they have no way of knowing where we went! This is all your fault!"

"My fault?"

"'Hey, let's go out and go ghost hunting Levy, my parents will never find out Levy,'" Levy said in a mimicking voice.

"Hey, you wanted to go just as much as I did. You trusted me," Sam argued.

"And fat load of help that was."

Sam gritted his teeth and bunched his hands in fists. "Let's- let's just try and find our way back."

There was a great flash of lightening and it poured harder.

"It's no use man; it's raining cats and dogs now. There's no way we can find our way back in this weather."

"So now what?"

Levy looked around and saw the small cave they were by. He sighed. "Let's wait it out until morning. Once it's daytime we can try and head back."

Sam's eyes widened in shock.

"It's not safe to walk around lost when it's raining like this. It'll be easier to travel when it's lighter."

Sam stood there, getting poured on by the water falling from the sky. He didn't know what to say or do. The branches of the tree they were by swayed dangerously. Sam drew in a deep breath but nodded and so both boys took shelter in the small cave. Sam held up the map and then sighed again. It was sodden from the rain. He tossed it aside, now useless. They took off their coats and put it deep in the cave in hopes they would be dry enough to wear the next day. Thankfully the two blankets were fine so they wrapped their small bodies in them and lay down.

"Dude, we are going to be in so much trouble," Sam said after a few minutes.

"I know," Levy agreed bitterly.

**( To Be Continued )**


	4. Chapter 4

The thunderstorm rolled on and Wendy kept tossing and turning in her sleeping bag. Like her son, it didn't take much for her to awaken. She sighed and finally sat up. Stan felt her get out of her sleeping bag and to her feet.

"Uuuhh? What are you doin'?" he yawned.

"It's really pouring out there. I'm going to check on the boys and make sure they're warm enough."

"I'm sure they're fine."

She looked at him. "If the floor becomes flooded we're going to have to sleep in the camper and car, even if Ben doesn't like it. I'll be right back."

She walked out with an umbrella to the kids' tent, only to find it- empty. She looked around it before going into the camper.

"Ugghhh, Mom, I'm trying to sleep," Ben complained from the camp bed in the back.

"Ben & Lily, do you know if the boys came in here?"

"No."

After checking the camper she looked in the car, only to find it empty too. She then began to panic and hurried back in the adults' tent.

"Stan! Stan, get up now!"

"What? I wanna sleep too you know."

"Stan, I can't find the boys."

"Huh?"

"I can't find the boys! They aren't in their tent or the camper or the car!" her voice shook.

Stan finally sat up. "Impossible. Where else would they be?"

"I don't know but we are going to look for them now. Get your coat on, umbrella and flashlight. They can't have gone far…" although she was saying this only to try and calm herself.

Irritated, Ben was forced to come out and look around for stupid Sam and Levy too. They searched in the surrounding area but it was really difficult to see much or navigate through the trees. Wendy finally went into the camper, shaking mad now, too nervous to look anymore.

"Boys? BOYS?" Stan kept calling but with the howling wind it would be impossible for them to hear. He finally deserted the trees and met with his family in the camper. "I couldn't find them," he said.

"I don't understand it, where would they be?" Wendy said eyes wide.

"Now- now calm down honey, they can't have gone far," Stan tried to comfort her.

"How do you know? There isn't any sign what happened to them! They could have been kidnapped or injured or taken away by a bear or something and we have no idea what happened!"

"C'mon, I'm sure we would know if they were caught by a bear," Stan said with half a smile but she didn't find it amusing one bit.

"What are we going to do? Why would they willingly leave if that's what they did? I can't sleep now, knowing they're missing!" Wendy said wildly.

"Calm down honey, we have to calm down," he put his arms on hers.

She got to her feet. "Calm down? Sam and Levy are missing Stan!" she sank back in the seat again breathing quickly.

Stan didn't know what to say or do. "Let's just- wait it out Wendy. See if they turn up in the morning."

She looked at him as if he were mad.

"Hey, I know where they might be. I'm sure they're at Logan Cave."

"Why the hell would they be there?"

"Well, Sam got upset when he found out we wouldn't be going there. Knowing him, he wanted a bit of fun and convinced Levy to come along. I can't find the map either so I bet they have it with them. They're probably getting a fun thrill right now and they'll come back in the morning, acting as if it never happened. They do things like that all the time," Stan said convincingly.

Wendy opened her mouth but closed it. "I- I swear it Stan, if that isn't where they're at right now, and they don't turn up in the morning"- she looked ready to rip his head off.

"Then we can panic," he said, hands held in defense. "In the mean time, it's safest to sleep in here until the rain stops. Come on, I'll take the driver's seat if it'll make you happy…"

Wendy didn't answer, just softly sat into the sofa. She doubted she would be able to get any sleep now.

Around eight in the morning the rain had died down and Sam blinked his eyes tiredly. He quickly turned to Levy and shook him awake.

"Dude, the rain stopped!"

Levy poked his head out. "Good, now we can try and find our way back. Come on."

Their jackets were still pretty wet so they wrapped their blankets around them and walked out. They had no idea where to go, all they knew was camp was back east and with no compass, they could only guess which way that was. Hoping they were making the right decision, they turned left and began their trek. Levy looked behind him as he led the way. Sam was looking at the ground with a worried expression on his face.

"What?" Sam asked.

"I know that look," Levy told him.

"What?" he asked again.

"You're having troubles breathing aren't you?" Levy didn't know why he sounded so angry.

"What?" Sam said a third time. "No I'm not."

"You are so! I've known that look since we were four!" again, why was he getting so fumed over this?

"I'm not, really. I'm just upset at this situation. I just wanna return back to camp. I have this remember?" he held up a small blue canister in his hand. Levy glared at the inhaler but began to walk again. He didn't know why he was so angry with his friend but he was. This was his entire fault, this was his idea. But it was best to not play the blame game now and just try to get out of these woods. The walked more and more, hoping they were going east. Unfortunately for them, they were walking north.

Wendy shook herself awake. So I did get some sleep… she then got to her feet and looked around. "Boys? B-boys?" she ran outside to see their tents a mess but no sign of Sam or Levy anywhere. She woke Stan up violently.

"They haven't come back Stan!" she shouted.

They went outside together.

"Maybe there's a clue as to what happened to them. I mean, they had the map, they must. I can't find it anywhere. Why else would they have the map other than to find Logan Cave?"

The only thing they could come up with was that Sam's backpack and inhaler were missing as were two blankets. They looked around the surrounding area again before deciding they had to talk it up to the park ranger's headquarters and put out a search. Stan thought it was too premature to form a search party already but Wendy was in her own mind and was too determined to find out something. The first ranger they came in contact with got a picture of the boys and sent out a couple others to begin looking.

Meanwhile, the boys had to stop for a break after three hours. The air around them was cold and they could tell it was going to rain again sometime that day. Sam could feel himself shaking and getting warm so he took off his cap and set it beside him before taking his inhaler out and breathing in a couple puffs. It was almost lunch time and with no breakfast, he could feel himself getting lightheaded. Just then the wind began to kick up and before he knew it, his hat sailed off and away from him.

"No! No!" he chased after it for a short while only to see it get carried up high into a tree by the wind. He made a move to climb it but Levy held him back.

"Dude, forget about it."

"I need my scarf!"

"It's just a scarf Sam."

"You're the one who wears your scarf more than any of us! Don't tell me 'it's just a scarf'!"

"You need to stay calm after you take your medicine Sam, you can't go climbing a tall tree right after."

Sam kicked a rock. "God Damnit! Don't tell me what to do Levy! Argh, I wanna get out of here!"

Levy was tempted to yell at him again but stopped himself. "Let's just continue to walk, before you know it we'll see your parents looking at us like angry bulls. We'll be in trouble, but safe, and get back home."

Levy began to walk again. Sam took one last look at his beloved scarf, twenty feet above him before following. He knew he shouldn't get too upset, he had nine other pairs of the exact hat back at home but right now, he was getting too annoyed to think normally. They walked on and on until around 5:30 in the evening when they realized they had to stop for the day and rest up. Their legs and feet were killing them. They took shelter under a giant rock amongst a slopping hill of other rocks. It had rained lightly on and off the past couple hours. They were starving at this point.

"What- what are we going to do for food if we're stuck here another day?" Sam asked Levy.

Levy looked up from cleaning mud off his shoes. "I don't know. I guess, if we find an animal, we're going to have to kill it."

Sam frowned. "What kind of animal?"

"I dunno, whatever we see. A bunny, a deer…"

Sam looked dejected.

"Dude, if we have to eat, we have to eat. We can't just survive on water," he indicated the water bottle in his hand. They had collected as much water from the rain as they could that day.

Sam moaned and hit his head on the rock, closing his eyes. "I cannot believe we're in this mess."

"Well, you were the one who wanted to hunt for ghosts," Levy had to finally say.

Sam looked up and opened his eyes. "You wanted to come as well Levy so don't you dare put all the blame on me!"

"I told you if something happened to us you would take full responsibility! And you agreed!"

"You only said if my parents found out I would take responsibility."

"Well I bet you by now your parents have found out," Levy said bitterly.

Sam opened his mouth then shut it. He then jumped when he felt a beetle on his head and flicked it off. "God I wish we had some bug spray!"

"I wish we were home," Levy put out.

Sam gritted his jaw so tight he could have broken his teeth, and wrapped his arms around his knees. "How are we going to sleep? What if it rains? Our coats are still damp, we can't get the blankets wet either."

Levy shrugged. "Nothing we can do."

The boys didn't say much as they watched the sky ahead grow darker and darker. It was even more difficult to fall asleep that night. All around them they saw nothing but black and the outline of the trees. They didn't know if anyone or anything was masked in the dark. Every time they heard a noise they shown a flashlight around, but nothing was ever seen. They knew they had to save the batteries of the lights so they turned it off finally. They couldn't hide their fear that night. They laid down almost nose-to-nose holding hands, just to make sure they knew the other was still there. They were nothing but two little boys, lost in the woods and too afraid to sleep.

Back at the camp grounds, Wendy was having just as difficult a time falling asleep as the boys. There were no signs of them anywhere that day and the few rangers who went looking said it wasn't safe to search again that night in case it began to rain again. Wendy sat in the camper, blue eyes wide with fright, not knowing where Sam and Levy were. She didn't know what to think or do.

The sun peaked through the evergreens the morning of July the 10th. Sam rubbed his eyes. Had he actually gotten some sleep? He woke Levy up.

Levy looked around with tired green eyes. "I don't know about you but I'm still exhausted. Look, it's morning now, we can see things now. Let's- let's try and get a couple more hours of sleep before we try again, alright?"

Sam sighed and snuggled into the rocky earth again. "Fine."

Two hours later the boys put their blankets and water bottle away before going off again.

"I think what we need to look out for is a road. If we see a paved road then there has to be people nearby," Levy told Sam, five minutes into walking.

The weather did not let up throughout the day. An hour in it began to rain and the wind was fierce. All their shouts of 'hello? Can anyone hear us?' fell on nothing but trees.

Back at camp the search had only grown. The police were now involved and a few more people were now heading the hunt for two missing boys. A police officer walked up to Wendy who was sitting in a chair at the ranger's station, shaking like mad, the cup of coffee in her hands jittering horribly.

"Mrs. Marsh, we need a detailed description of the boys," Officer Craig asked.

She appeared to not have heard him.

"We-Wendy," Stan nudged his wife.

She looked up.

"Wendy, we need a detailed description of the boys beside what they were last seen wearing."

"Levy- Levy is 4'3" I believe. I'm not s-sure how much he weighs. Maybe around 65 pounds. He has a red afro and green eyes and sort of a sharp nose."

Officer Craig nodded and wrote this down. "Any definable marks on his skin?"

Wendy and Stan shared a look.

"A birthmark. Yes, I know he had a birthmark on his right arm. Oh, and he has an outie belly button. I know that might help."

He nodded again. "And your son?"

At this Wendy's eyes glassed over. "My- my Sammy is 4'4" exactly, and he w-weighs exactly 64.5 pounds," she sniffed. "He has shaggy black hair and my- my eyes. D-deep, dark blue eyes."

"Any scars or marks on his skin too?"

Wendy hiccupped now. "He has a scar on his forehead- right here on the hairline"- she made a dash mark across the left side of her hairline. "From hitting his head when he was six. He also has a scar on his left shoulder. He- he tripped a few days ago on a hike, he should have a cut on his knee too."

She covered her face with her hands now, trying hard to hold it together. It had only been one full day; they still had time to find them.

"Thank-you Mrs. Marsh. Don't worry, we're going to find the boys," Officer Craig reassured her, patting her shoulder before giving the descriptions to the other police.

Sam and Levy traveled through the trees, rocks and uneven ground before night fell and it was dark again. By now their shoes were caked in mud and they had to stop frequently to clean them. Their clothes were also being torn and ripped from the hard walking. They found a tree and sank against it, out of breath. Sam reached into his pocket for his inhaler to put back in his backpack, when he felt nothing. He checked his other pocket and again, nothing. That's when he saw that there was a large rip in his pocket and he panicked. He began to grope around the ground but couldn't find it. Levy drew his water bottle from his lips to watch Sam.

"Something up?"

"Dude, I had it. I had it!"

"Had what?"

"My inhaler! I had it and now I can't find it!"

"Huh?"

"It was in my pocket Levy and now it's not!" Sam cried as if he was hiding it from him.

"Well, well let's check the ground a bit, see if we find it."

"No shit!"

"Hey, I didn't lose it," Levy barked.

Sam began to look around frantically with Levy's help. The sky was darkening and it was getting harder to see.

"We'll look more in the morning," Levy told him.

"What?"

"Do you need it now?"

"N-no, but what if I do need it Levy? What if I do? Oh my god, what if I wake up in the middle of the night and can't breathe? Oh my god…" Sam began to panic.

Levy turned Sam around to face him. "You have to calm down Sam. Really. You're never the one who gets worked up on things."

"But"-

Levy shook him viciously. "Snap out of it!"

Sam blinked blue eyes at him before shaking him off.

"How did you lose it anyway?"

"There's a rip in my pocket. Oh god, it could have fallen out anytime, it could be anywhere…"

Levy bit his lip; it was time to be strong for his friend now. He sat him back against the tree. "Calm down Sam, come on dude. If you aren't having troubles now, no use working yourself up."

Sam drew in a deep breath but nodded. "Sorry."

Levy sighed as he fell onto the tree as well. "I am so hungry and exhausted…"

"Me too…"

Once again they sat and watched the sky grow darker and darker and the sounds of all the night critters awaken. Back at the campgrounds Stan was doing all he could to calm his wife down. Not long ago the police had informed Mr. and Mrs. Broflovski their son was missing. To say they were beyond furious was an understatement. Kyle wanted to talk to Wendy on the phone and accuse her of this but Stan had relieved his wife of this, she was defiantly in no state for Kyle's usual i told you so speech now. They were going to come to the grounds the next day. He was afraid Kyle might rip Wendy's head off when he saw her in person. Stan handed his wife another cup of coffee and wrapped a blanket around her.

"It'll be alright Wendy, I know it," he tried to tell her.

She gulped. "It's- it's happening. What I said. My worst fear… oh my god, my worst fear is happening…"

"Hey, it's only been two days, there's plenty of time for them to show up."

"Only two days? How can you say our son has been missing for 'only two days'?" she shrieked.

Stan tried another approach. "The boys have been in trouble like this before. They always return."

"Don't you get it Stan? My worst fear was that this exact thing would happen again and the boys wouldn't turn up! Ever! I- I jinxed myself, our son will never return. The Broflovski's son will never return. It's my entire fault, all my fault for voicing my worst fear…" Wendy sobbed.

He knew she had a point so he backed off. He sat next to Ben.

"Ben, why don't you say something to your aunt."

"What?"

"Reassure her okay?"

"No."

Stan had him face him. "Look, I know you don't like your little cousin but I know you love your aunt enough to make her feel better. So go do it," he ordered.

He rolled his eyes and walked to his mom. "Aunt Wendy?"

Wendy looked at him with swollen eyes.

He sighed and touched her arm. "I- I'm sure Sam will show up."

Wendy sniffed and hugged her nephew to him. "Oh Ben, oh, I hope so…" and she squeezed him for many minutes.

Ben would have gotten out of her arms long ago but he knew just what his aunt was feeling. Sam was missing, for good. He may have indeed jinxed his return. To know his little cousin may never come back home… was the untold fear of his he dared not to tell anyone during that campfire. At 9:00 that night the police had come into the ranger's station with something in his hands.

"Mrs. Marsh, can you identify this?"

Wendy looked up to see the man holding up a worn purple scarf. She numbly took it in her hands and stared at it.

"We found it hanging in a tree."

To have her son's scarf in her arms but not her actual son was too much, she broke down. Sam hurried over and hugged her, saying the while, "That's- that is our son's scarf."

The officer nodded. "We're making progress."

The search had been called off a half hour later. It had begun to rain again and it would be too dangerous to search in such bad weather. Back where the boys were… Sam had awoken from his doze when he felt raindrops on his face.

"You've got to fucking me kidding me!" Levy cried.

Sam sat up and shivered. His coat was wet from earlier as was his blanket, and he had no hat. They sat there against the old tree getting poured on. Levy quickly put his hat inside Sam's backpack so he could have at least one dry item.

"Now w-what are we gonna do?" Sam asked, hugging his wet body to himself.

Levy opened his mouth to answer when he suddenly saw something ahead- a pile of rocks with a dark opening- a cave. He then saw the tree they were at had a large opening underneath.

"Sam…"

"What?" Sam was in no mood to care about anything at this point.

"I think- yes! Look!" he held up a flashlight to the tree. It was covered in funny markings.

"Logan Cave!" they said together.

But Sam was not excited; on the contrary, his eyes were wide with fright.

"Pretty neat huh?" Levy commented.

"Oh shit, oh shit oh shit oh shit…" Sam kept repeating.

"Now what?"

Sam put his head in his hands. "It's just like the story Levy!"

"What is?"

"This- our situation now!"

"What? No it's not."

"It is so butthole! It's raining, and we're lost. Lost campers finding shelter at a tree by Logan Cave. And it's raining. Oh shit!" Sam gasped again.

Levy rolled his eyes.

"Levy! I'm gonna die here!"

"What on earth are you talking about?" he asked impatiently.

"I'm allergic to the area. I had two attacks before we even were lost! I'm gonna have an attack tonight and by morning, I'll be dead!"

Levy couldn't believe the word's coming out of Sam's mouth.

"I lost my inhaler. It's fate, I lost it because I was meant to die like that one camper did. Oh god…" Sam had finally had it, tears filled his eyes and he began to cry.

Levy had never see Sam go from bad to worse so quickly. He truly did hate when he lost control. He was the one who got worked up on things, not the other way around. Time for some good ol' reassurance… Levy thought bitterly. He grabbed hold of Sam's shoulders.

"Sam, Sam. Dude! Snap out of it!" he slapped him across the face.

Sam was too shocked he did this that he listened.

"This isn't like the story okay?"

"It's just like the story!"

Levy sighed. "Well, alright, so it is. The point is that it doesn't mean anything. It doesn't even mean it's true. Just because there were witnesses and your dad said it doesn't mean it's true. This cave could be here for any number of reasons. It doesn't mean anything. But you freaking out right now isn't helping. I know you lost your inhaler, and chances of finding it are pretty slim. But both you and I know when something like that happens the last thing you need to do is panic. Panicking will make you have difficulties breathing, and then you really are screwed. For now, just- try and calm down. I know you have allergies here but, don't think on it. C'mon Sam, it's you, you don't do these things. Everyone knows the moment you start to worry; we're all in deep shit."

Sam looked at him, shocked at his little speech. But it made sense so he nodded. "Alright, I'm calm."

"Good. Now c'mon," Levy nodded to the cave.

Sam's eyes were wide again. "You really think we should go in there?"

"We can't stay outside another night. It'll be safer inside the cave. I promise you we won't be decapitated."

Sam wasn't so sure. The story had to be true so who was Levy to say it wouldn't happen again? Levy chuckled.

"You're really sacred aren't you?"

"No," Sam snapped. "Let's go."

They dragged their tired bodies inside the dark cave. It was fine so far. But just to be safe they decided to stay near the entrance if they needed to run off. They decided to leave one of the flashlights on all night just in case. They watched as the rain fell outside, not what one would expect in July but then again, this was Colorado, weather was unpredictable. The boys didn't say anything for a while. Levy couldn't ever remember his stomach hurting this much before. If they didn't get some food fast he didn't know how much longer they would last. How he wished he never fallowed Sam out two nights ago. They would have been able to go kayaking on the last day and be home, safe and warm in their beds at this point. Sam frowned as he shook the water out of his wet hair. He kept looking at Levy, angry with him but he didn't know why. Maybe it was because he kept putting all the blame on him. It was as much fault his as it was Levy's, he came along too.

"Well this is fun," Levy finally said flatly, casting the light from the flashlight around.

Sam looked up. "Are you fucking serious?"

"Hey, you're the one with a warped sense of fun dude, you tell me."

Sam marched over to him. "For the last time I didn't get us into this mess okay? If anything it's your fault."

"My fault?"

"You didn't even check to see if the compass was working!"

"You're the one who can't even read a damn map!"

"You're the one who keeps making useless suggestions. Let's go this way, let's do this. It hasn't done jack shit!" Sam screamed.

"Well what are your brilliant solutions then Sam? Huh? How do we get out of this mess now?"

Sam growled. "I don't know okay? All I know is if I don't get food soon and have an asthma attack I'm as good as dead."

"People think I'm boring and not adventures? It's because of you. You're the one who thinks it's a good idea to risk his neck doing stupid things all the time, not caring of the consequences."

"I'm not irresponsible!"

"Oh yeah? You were the one who almost drowned in the middle of the ocean trying to stop Japanese from killing dolphins! You're the one who was banished from town for not donating even though you had plenty of chances. You're the one who almost died from a disease trying to save some cows from being killed! You're the one who once tried to go into the deep end of a pool on a raft when you didn't know how to swim, just because your cousin threw your stupid stuffed doll in it. You're the one"-

"Alright, I get it Einstein!"

"I'm responsible okay? I look out for myself. I like washing my hands and brushing my teeth and bathing. I like taking directions and proving my worth. I am not you Sam; I do not just 'let things go' without a care. This is not my fault because if it was I wouldn't have even come up with this stupid ghost hunting idea in the first place!" Levy screeched the last part.

The two faced each other, both wore steaming faces. Sam finally walked from him and stepped out the cave.

"Where are you going?" Levy demanded.

"I don't want to sleep in a cave with someone who keeps insisting I did this on purpose."

"You're sleeping outside?"

"Under the tree, like that one camper did."

Levy opened his mouth then glared. "Fine, go ahead, see if I care!"

"I will!"

"Good!"

"I'm going!"

"Go ahead."

"Don't expect me to come back in."

"I'm not."

Sam gritted his teeth in anger at his best friend again before walking back out into the rain and slumping under the old tree. It was going to be one long night…

**(To Be Continued)**

I hope you liked this chapter. Please click on the 'review' tab and send me some words! Thanks!


	5. Chapter 5

How long Sam sat under the tree he didn't know. He just hugged his wet body to him, not remembering the last time he felt this cold. If he had his hat he would at least be a tiny bit warmer. Drops of water ran down his lank hair, both his coat and blanket useless and dirty. Stupid Levy… does he really think I wanted to put us in this mess? All I wanted was a scary experience, this is too much. What a dumbass… Sam thought savagely.

Back in the cave, the same thoughts were going on in Levy's mind as he walked back and forth inside. What was he thinking? Like I had anything to do with this? At least I was trying to find a way out of here unlike him. What a stupid, stubborn kid. Levy stopped his pacing and sat down again. He had to save his energy, no more walking unless he really had to. He crossed his arms over his chest angrily as he thought, listening to the rain fall steadily out in the dark night. Finally a realization came over him. He lowered his arms slowly and looked back out. It was really dark and wet outside and his best friend in the whole world was out there, even if it was his own choice. He then thought of their situation before sighing and getting to his feet and walking out.

Sam turned around when he felt Levy touch him. "What do you want?" he asked.

Levy sighed. "Look, can we just drop this blaming game now? Can we just admit we both made mistakes that led us in this situation?"

Sam looked at him wearily.

"Look, I admit it was my fault for not making sure we had a working compass. And I know I promised to bring along my watch too but I didn't."

Sam rolled his eyes. "It was my fault for well, being here in the first place. I wanted to find this exact place. Now we're here and well, I'd rather be at home more than anywhere…"

Levy grinned. "C'mon, get back in the cave."

Even if they had forgiven each other, the story of the campers his dad had told still rung in his head. He never felt so vulnerable before than on this excursion through the woods. Levy seemed to have read his mind.

"Sam, you know you can't stay out here. It's still raining and you're soaking. If you stay out here any longer you really are bound to get sick or have an attack or something. You have to get inside with me."

Sam sighed. "Yeah, you're right."

Levy led Sam back inside. Sam took off his coat and shook his wet head like a dog. There really wasn't anything he could do to get warm, everything was wet, and he wasn't about to strip naked and sit inside a cave or he'd really freeze. Levy's blanket was still semi-dry so they decided to take turns using it. They rested their heads on the floor of the cave, Sam with the blanket first.

"Remember dude, if you start to feel sick or can't breathe or break out in hives or anything, tell me," Levy told him.

Sam nodded. Levy knew he was telling the truth and so together the fell into yet another uneasy sleep in nature. Morning came with a bright burst of sunshine in the cave. But that wasn't what woke Sam. His chest had been feeling tight the past ten minutes and his skin was itching like mad. He regretfully woke Levy.

"Hm… what is it dude?" he slurred. "Hey, look, the sun's finally out!" he said happily, noticing the change in weather.

"Levy, my chest hurts," Sam told him.

"Huh?" Levy sat up and looked at him.

Sam drew in a breath but it sounded more like a whistle. "My chest hurts. And look"- he showed him his legs, raised skin shown on them in many different random shapes.

Levy kneeled next to him and looked his legs over. "Hives…"

Sam nodded. Levy knew, yet again, what was on Sam's mind (how was that?) and went into his role as designated brother.

"Alright, first things first, don't panic."

"Levy"-

"Don't panic Damnit! It'll only make things worse."

Sam began scratching at his neck where a few funny-looking bumps were beginning to form too. Levy bit his lip, trying to think of plan of action. One thing did pop in his mind.

"From now on, let's stay in here alright? I know there are people looking for us and have been looking for days. It'll be easier for them to find us if we stay in one place. Plus, since this is Logan Cave, it means camp is only a mile away. And I'm sure there are people there right now, waiting to see if we turn up. We really couldn't have found a better place to bunk," he said with a slight smile.

Sam agreed. "I don't think I can walk another day anyway."

"I know what you mean. We'll just stay here until we're found, which has to be soon. It has to. Then this horrible experience will finally be over."

Sam looked troubled beside his allergic reaction. "Man, I can only imagine- what my mom is feeling now… she was really serious when she- said to not find our own adventures."

Levy shrugged. "Well, now you know what I feel. My mom is probably worried sick too. I'm sure she knows I've been missing the past two and a half days."

"I don't know if she's- going to murder me when we're finally- found, or hug me to death," Sam thought, whistling sounds coming from him through each breath.

Levy was happy Sam seemed to think they were going to be found now and not die like the campers in the story. They set their coats and blankets on the top of the cave so the sun could dry them throughout the day. The warmer weather was a nice welcome but not for Sam. Weather changes were never good news for his health and as the day died his breathing only worsened. He tried hard not to panic but the situation they were in was a lot worse than his last attack in February. Night fell and Levy looked over to Sam who sounded worse than earlier.

"Levy…" he whimpered, tears filling his eyes.

Levy went into action. "Calm down Sam, just calm down…"

Sam shook his head.

"You have to do it dude. Come on, deep breaths, deep breaths."

Sam drew in a ragged painful breath. "I can't…"

"You can dude. You can because you have to." He firmly took hold of Sam's arms. It felt like he had done that many times during this trip.

"I've been- doing it all day. I never did this- all day with-without medicine."

"You are not- I repeat not going to crumble now Sam, do you hear me? We've been through too much shit now to have you do this," Levy said fiercely. "Now more than ever you have to learn how to calm yourself down. Remember the methods your doctor told you, your parents. They tell you these things for a reason. So you can save yourself. C'mon Sam, do it."

Sam coughed trying to breathe. "Hurts… it's hard."

"I know but for me- for your parents, calm down. Your mom is worried sick this very minute, wondering where you are. She's hoping to find you and hug you and everything dude. You can't let her down Sam. You can't."

Tears prickled Sam's eyes. Levy helped him lie down and he gave him the dryer of the blankets. It sounded as if Sam was choking almost.

"Hey, I have an idea Sam. Let's talk. Let's just talk okay? We can't fall asleep though. If you fall asleep well… it's best you don't."

"What about you?"

"I'm not going to fall asleep either. If I do then I won't be able to wake you up if you sleep. C'mon, let's talk, keep each other awake…"

Sam drew in a long painful breath. "I'm so hungry…"

"Me too." A smile spread on Levy's lips. "If you were home right now, what would you want to eat more than anything?"

Sam thought. "KFC."

Levy laughed.

"Extra crispy strips… or my mom's meat-meatloaf. And- and chocolate cake. And Dr. Pepper."

"I want a burger. A big fat juicy burger. And a chicken salad. And applesauce. And a strawberry milkshake," Levy thought.

Sam licked his lips. "A milkshake sounds so good." He then chuckled. "Man, I'd rather be any-anywhere but here."

"I know."

Sam laughed again. "I'd even r-rather be at the- the dentist than here."

Levy smiled widely. "Yeah. I'd rather be back at home hearing Derick making fun of Jews again." He thought again. "Know what I'd like to do? Go home and hug Kylie. Just hug her and tell her I'm happy he's my sister. Then I wanna spend the rest of the night reading to her and playing with her. She loves it when we read together."

Sam thought sadly. "I wanna read- with my mom too. We always do, ev- every Tuesday and Thursday."

"I want to go home and shoot some baskets."

"Uh-huh. And throw- throw the football around, and- and bike. And play baseball. And video games."

"I wouldn't say no to some chores either. I'd be more than happy to help my dad wash the car," Levy said.

"I can't wait to- to take out the garbage again," Sam said wishfully.

"You're telling me." The boys were able to stay awake by talking throughout the night, although Levy had to shake Sam here and there to stop him from nodding off. He knew he might fall unconscious and not wake up if he fell asleep. They were finally too tired to talk anymore so they just tried to stay awake, which was difficult for Levy to do since he had to make sure both he and Sam were awake. Levy sat against the wall while Sam continued to lie down, still in the blanket. Stan was still breathing, even though it was irregular, but at least he was still breathing. Levy sighed as he took out his water bottle- hardly anything was left in it. He wished it had rained that day now, then he'd have some refreshment. He felt so weak… he was doing all he could to stay strong for Sam because he needed it, but truth be told, he was afraid something would soon happen too.

Voices were heard in the distance. Levy shook his head and saw bright light- and two men outside the cave.

"What?"

"We found them! It's them! It's the boys!" one of the men called, apparently telling someone behind him.

Levy rubbed his eyes and saw that it was morning. Oh no! He fell asleep! He quickly turned to Sam who was also asleep. "Sam? Sam?"

"Don't worry boys, you're going to be alright," spoke a blonde rescue worker.

"You hear that Sam? Sam? We're saved!"

"There's a helicopter waiting to take you boys to the hospital. You're going to be okay," said the other man.

Together the men had brought forth a stretcher. Levy scooted aside. "Take Sam first, he needs help. He has asthma and broke out in hives yesterday."

"Are you sure?"

"Do it!"

Thankfully Sam opened his eyes at that moment, slightly. He was awake…

"Sam, help arrived! I told you! I told you!" Levy couldn't help but expel his excitement, not for himself but for his friend. His super best friend was finally going to get help.

Levy could tell Sam thought he was dreaming as the two men loaded him onto a stretcher and carried him off to a waiting helicopter in a clearing of the woods. A third man stayed by Levy to make sure he was going to be okay while another helicopter arrived to take him. Sam blinked confused eyes as a paramedic worked on him on the flight to the hospital.

"Am I- d-d-dreaming?" Sam struggled to say with the mask over his face.

The pretty woman smiled down at him. "You aren't. Rescue workers found you. You kids are going to be alright."

Alright… this horrible ordeal was finally going to be over. Sam was on his way to the hospital and for once, he couldn't be happier. Wendy almost collapsed in her chair once the police told her the boys were found alive. Thankfully all of their belongings were already packed up and they were able to drive to Denver Children's Hospital, the closest and best care for the boys. Kyle was too shocked to find out Levy had been found too that he stopped eying Wendy like a hawk and him and Bebe made the long ride to their son as well.

Later that night Levy opened his eyes. He found out he was in a hospital bed hooked up to an IV and vital monitors. Also, his parents were looking down at him.

"Mom? Dad?"

"Oh sweetie!" Bebe shrieked and hugged him.

"How do you feel Levy?" Kyle asked worriedly.

"I feel fine actually. How's Sam?"

"The doctors said you were pretty dehydrated. All you've had was water the past few days."

"I'm fine, really. A lot better than how I was. How's Sam?" he asked again.

They shared a look. "We haven't seen him yet, but I'm sure he's fine," Bebe told her son.

Levy looked angry now. "He was suffering from a pretty bad case of hives and was having an asthma attack. I don't think he's 'fine.'"

Kyle sighed. "We'll find Wendy and Stan and talk to them okay?"

"Please."

Kyle looked startled. "What? Now?"

"Yes now! I won't be able to sleep until I know how he is!"

Bebe nodded out. "C'mon, let's go Kyle…"

"But Levy, you"-

"I'm fine. And I'll be even better tomorrow and when I know how my best friend is doing!" he cried.

Regretfully, Kyle followed his wife out and went to find the Marshes. Currently, Wendy and Stan were staring down at their son who was sleeping in his hospital bed, surrounded by three IV bags and vital monitors with a tube down his throat. His face had swelled up so much by the time he was brought in that he had to be intubated in order to get air into his lungs quickly. They didn't say anything for a while. Wendy just gulped and dabbed at wet eyes.

"That's him alright, that's our son," Stan told her, arm around her.

"I still can't believe they found him. And he's alive. Oh Stan, we are so lucky, so so lucky."

Wendy brushed back the bangs on Sam's face, just to see the scar on his hairline. "My baby, oh my baby boy…"

"C'mon, we can see him tomorrow when he's awake."

"I just want to hug him Stan."

"You can do that tomorrow. Let's go…"

She planted a kiss on her son's face before leaving. They found the Broflovskies outside the door waiting for them.

"Levy- we just wanted to know how Sammy's doing," Kyle asked them.

"He'll be okay. He- he sort of freaked us out, his face began to swell but, they got a tube down his throat and, he'll be fine soon enough," Stan answered.

"How's Levy?" Wendy asked.

"He's fine. After he gets some more nourishment he'll be fit to go home," Bebe told them. she looked at her husband. He glared at her before sighing.

"Sorry for blaming you two for what happened," he said. "The boys- the boys were found and are alive, that's what matters most."

The Marshes looked a little surprised at what he had said but grateful nonetheless.

"We're sorry we lost your son," Wendy said.

"You didn't, the boys went off on their own," Bebe told her.

"I know but it still feels like my fault. We were in charge," Wendy said heavily.

"We'll know what really happened when the boys are able to speak," Stan said.

They said their good-byes and went to the nearest motel by the hospital so they could be close to the boys. Two days had passed. Levy was feeling better than ever and was released from the hospital with a strict diet and medication to take due to the lost of nutrients over the three and a half days he was missing. Levy could care less about that now; he was able to visit Sam who was several doors away from him. He walked into his room and ran to his bed.

"Hey dude," Kyle smiled.

"Hey," Sam replied. The tube down his throat had been removed hours ago. His throat was very soar.

Levy suddenly didn't know what to tell him. He just rolled his eyes. "Why does it feel like I was by your hospital bed, only months ago for this very reason?"

Sam grinned. "Because you were."

"Dude, I thought you told me you weren't going to have what happened in February happen again."

Sam shrugged. "Sorry. I thought so too."

"Know when you're going to be released?"

"Couple of days I think. I hope. I still want my KFC."

Levy laughed. "Yeah."

"Know how- we were found?"

"No. I'll ask though."

Sam coughed. "Good."

"Maybe I should visit later," Levy frowned.

"No! Don't leave me!"

Levy looked at him confused.

"My parents said cousin Benny was going to see me. Ben. I need witnesses- to my ass beating."

Levy laughed again. "Alright, I won't leave."

Ben did come in time later. He glared at Levy when he saw him.

"What are you doing here?" he ordered.

"Sam's my best friend," Levy answered.

"Well he's my cousin so I have more rights." He pushed Levy away.

"Why do you care? You hate him!"

"LEAVE!"

Levy glared at the fourteen-year-old boy but left. Sam blinked his eyes at his cousin, wondering what he was doing there. He sighed so heavily it was more like a groan.

"I'm only here because aunt Wendy and uncle Stan made me," Ben told him.

"Figured."

"I'm glad you're not dead."

"Huh?"

"You heard me!" he yelled, taking hold of his hospital shirt and bringing him close. He pushed him violently back down and left.

Two days later had Levy and his parents and Wendy, Stan & Lily around Sam's hospital bed, telling him just what happened.

"We were getting real fed up with the rescues workers' excuses for not looking more because of the rain," Wendy said angrily.

"Finally they were convinced to search first thing the next morning," Kyle said.

"Your mother told them to look again by Logan Cave since we figured that's where you were," Stan explained. "They only looked there the first day, and not very well."

"Where were you boys this whole time? Were you at the cave?" Wendy asked.

Sam and Levy shared a look. "Well, we were trying to find it," Sam began, biting his lip. "In the middle of the night. We found one cave, but it was the wrong one."

"The compass we had wasn't working and it began to rain so we figured we'd head back to camp in the morning," Levy said.

"Thing was, we didn't know where to go. Without a compass and a wet map, we were screwed," Sam shrugged.

"So we just walked on and on, trying to find someone but never did. We barely saw any animals too, we were pretty alone alright."

"It was hard traveling, with no food and wet clothes and blankets."

"But on the morning of the fourth day, we saw the rescue workers, and, well, were rescued," Levy concluded.

Wendy shook her head. "I still cannot believe this happened. I-I really thought you two were gone forever this time."

Sam bowed his head guiltily. "I'm sorry I made you worry Mom. Really."

Wendy sighed and took hold of one of his hands and kissed it. "I'm just glad you were found."

"So, are we still in trouble…?" Levy had to ask.

Their parents all looked at one another.

"I think, this time, since you had us worried more than ever before, no," Wendy said clearly.

"Really?" Sam beamed.

"Even me?" Levy looked to his parents.

Kyle answered before Bebe could. "Even you Levy."

"Sweet," he and Sam said at the same time.

The next day Sam was released from the hospital. Even though the boys did have a great time at Lake Cherry Wood, they were even more excited to go back to the dull life of South Park. Back to school, snow, and even Derick. They were still young; they could come up with their own adventures in a less threatening way. Although Sam still did want to try his hand at huge rapids river rafting, much to Levy's chagrin.

**The End**

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